Zoomit.exe is fabulous

scott cate — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:03:40 GMT

In all my presentations, I've added ZoomIt as a display tool.

After every session, inevitably I get people who ask about the tool.

It's amazingly simple, and it's free.

http://live.sysinternals.com (Bottom of page is ZoomIt.exe)

In a large room, even at 1024X768, folks still have a hard time seeing the screen.

If it were possible, I would run at 800X600 to make my screen as large as possible. Unfortunately that creates a whole other set of usability issues that begin to over rule the large fonts.

ZoomIt to the rescue.

CTRL+1 - Zoom in.

CTRL+2 Draw on the screen. While in draw mode you have a few colors for the pen.

g = Green
r = Red
b = Blue
y = Yellow
o = Orange

you can also free draw with the mouse, which is great as a new age replacement for the old school laser pointer. while drawing with the mouse, you can add a keyboard click to adjust the drawing.

shift + draw = draw a perfect line
tab + draw = draw and ellipse
ctrl + draw = draw a rectangle
shift + ctrl + draw = draw and arrow

and a few others ....

e = erase the screen - all drawings go away
ctrl + z = undo last draw
t = Type on the screen. (Thanks Rob @ RobBagby.com for that tip)
up|down arrow keys change the pen size (larger or smaller for drawing and typing

Note to presenters (ReadMe.txt) ....

I've been using ZoomIt for about 6 months now, and I think I'm just getting to the point where I'm really good at using the utility, and not more confusing my audience with the zooming and drawing.

You can get zoom and draw happy to a point where I think it might actually take away from the effect.

I think "Less is More" wins here. If you have a really important presentation I wouldn't use ZoomIt unless you have had ample time to practice with it - maybe a few dry runs with the tool on your presentation.

Scott Cate's WebLog : sysinternals

Zoomit.exe is fabulous

Note to presenters (ReadMe.txt) ....